Philadelphia doesn't have 'traditionally attractive people' --Amber Rose

[News]

'I never said anyone was ugly!' Amber Rose addresses backlash to comments that hometown Philadelphia doesn't have 'traditionally attractive people'

By Sameer Suri For Dailymail.com
July 30, 2017

South Philadelphia-born Amber Rose is trying her best to soften the blow of a remark she's made about her old stomping grounds.

On a recent episode of the Drunk Champs podcast, she'd said that 'a lot of the people where I'm from aren't traditionally attractive people.'

Yet she's told TMZ on Saturday night that 'I never said anyone was ugly! I’m so frustrated,' allowing that 'maybe I shouldn’t have said the word "traditional," but I just meant, like, as far as society’s standards of beauty, which I never felt like I was beautiful. I felt like they were beautiful!' the 33-year-old's insisted.

She's summed up her defense of her point: 'So, it was actually the opposite of what everyone’s saying, so it makes me really sad. Shout-out to Philly. I love you guys.'

On her Drunk Champs episode, posted in video form to YouTube on July 12, she'd said: 'Agreed' when co-host N.O.R.E. had called Philadelphia 'the depths of hell.'

'You know, it’s crazy. I grew up in a very poor neighborhood, and I don’t know how I can say this without sounding, like f***ed up, but a lot of the people where I’m from aren’t traditionally attractive people,' Amber had said.

N.O.R.E., a rapper who used to go professionally by Noreaga, had replied: 'Hmm, I understand what you're saying,' before the Slutwalk impresaria'd barreled ahead.

'And for me, being blessed with beauty, as beautiful women know, is a blessing and a curse. And to grow up in such a area and be blessed with beauty, it was very difficult for me,' the ex-wife of Wiz Khalifa had said.

'And a lot of people, you know, used to be like: "You ain’t from South Philly. You’re from California or something." And, like, I would be on the bus, and they’re like: "Where are you from?" And I’m like: "I’m from Broad and Ellsworth."'

To hear her tell it, then 'they’re like: "Nah, you ca- you’re not, like, from there-from there." And I’m like: "Yeah, I was born and raised in Broad and Ellsworth."'

During that interview, she'd also gone on to say: 'I grew up on a third floor apartment, and so yeah, it was very difficult, but I, you know, I never felt like I belonged there. I always felt way bigger than the city was, like it wasn’t big enough for me.'

The Huffington Post have archived multiple tweets written by people who'd detected a racial angle in what Amber had said about South Philadelphia.

Full Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4744830/Amber-Rose-addresses-backlash-Philadelphia-comments.html

[Zaynab]

Once again, a non-black celebrity has publicly denounced a black community after benefitting greatly from her experiences there. Without growing up in a predominantly black community in Philadelphia (Amber made mention of this herself in her response to Kodak Black recently see link…) and dating famous black people, Amber would not have had the edge and street credibility which, along with her light skin privileges, helped make her famous.

People like Amber Rose feel they can say anything about black people. They, by virtue of their unaddressed privileges, racism and colourism, view blacks as beneath them and believe they can demean and denigrate blacks when the opportunity arises. Amber Rose’s statement was rife with racism and light skinned privilege. I am glad someone exposed her. Further, her attempts to play the victim card when she was cornered is also cause for concern. Amber Rose, like many other light skinned blacks or mixed-race persons that grow up in black communities, are aware of how they are perceived within that context very early on. They are, undoubtedly, aware of the hierarchical structure where underdeveloped ideas of beauty are concerned. So, to try to pretend to be innocent when knowingly painting black faces as not “traditionally beautiful” or “ugly” is quite dishonest. No one believes that Amber Rose, the same person that claims to have such a burden with “prettiness”, can see Black Philadelphians as beautiful. Though she attempted to take back her words, her idealised images of beauty are assuredly anti-black.
 
Blacks just don't get how placing these mixed race, light skinned blacks and whites (for example Miley Cyrus) on a pedestal and allowing them access to black culture (in its most limited and superficial aspect) is not in their best interest. Due to this open-door policy, privileged persons often feel they have a free pass to act out their racism when they live among blacks or socialise in black spaces.

[Dani37]

Zaynab totally agree with your analysis.

To add to this we create the platforms for these oppressive elements by our veneration of them simply by virtue of their light/mixed-ness.

Amber on several occasions have made it clear that she isn't Black and have implied that there is prejudice within her family against Blacks (citing that as the reason they didn't attend her wedding to Wiz Khalifa) yet she is completely embraced, protected, made wealthy and held up as desirable by both Black men and women! Our esteem is so low for ourselves that we would rather adopt someone who has no desire to be considered one of us but willingly profit from 'blackness' who has nothing credible be to add to us as a people. In fact she is a caricuture of racist tropes of what the Black woman is..this infuriates the senses